A Community Remembers: Histon Road – the Story
13 February 2025, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Photograph by Faruk Kara.
In 2018-2019, local residents were presented with the concept of the great expansion of Cambridge, where millions of pounds were given by the central government to a) improve transport, b) grow the housing stock, and c) develop training appropriate to the new industries. The whole project began with the re-building of Histon Road and Milton Road. Local Histon Road residents were concerned about the road – what were we to do?
Quick quick! We set up 2 residents associations, and joined the discussions to make sure the road schemes were sensible. We then got ourselves together to include local residents in their personal histories of the road. We had meetings at centres all down Histon Road to gather residents together and hear their memories, and during Covid, this all morphed into a book, A Community Remembers: Histon Road.
This is a roundtable discussion by the collaborators of the book, A Community Remembers: Histon Road. A local oral history project supported by Cambridge City Council and Histon Road Co-op, this beautifully compiled book has drawn on the memories and experiences of locals and forms an important record of the history of Histon Road.
About the Speakers
Photograph by Faruk Kara.
Lilian Rundblad: Local resident interested in the history of the neighbourhood and who set up the local residents’ association, HRARA. Lilian was the mover-shaker behind the whole idea of documenting Histon Road and its environs and applied for local grants to run the meetings.
Alison Wilson: Local resident and main author of the book. Alison introduced the Oral History programme (and the Museum of Cambridge trained our interviewers).
Faruk Kara: Local resident and photographer, his personal and colourful images made a special contribution to the book, and his video of the historical stories from residents and re-building of Histon Road can be found on his website.
Anna Crutchley: local resident and second author, who also set up a local residents’ association, BenRA. Anna noticed that the Co-op was inviting applications for a community grant, which we received to print the book. As we were all volunteers, this meant that profits from sales could be given out to local organisations. Anna also maintains the website.
Find out more about Histon Road and the book: https://www.histonroadmemories.uk
Find out more about Faruk Kara’s photography: https://www.faruk.kara.org.uk
Supporting the Museum of Cambridge
The Museum of Cambridge is an independent Charity and is not part of either the Cambridge Council or the University of Cambridge. We kindly suggest a donation of £7, which includes the talk and entry to the Museum of Cambridge (usually £6 for Adults, £4.50 for Students/Jobseekers). Your donation supports the daily running and conservation care of the Museum, an independent charity.
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Accessibility
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Photography
Please note that photographs will be taken throughout this event, and images may be used in future marketing and reporting materials. If you do not wish you or your family’s photograph to be taken, please make sure to let us know.
Healthy Events
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